BlaznHotAussies

This was a lifesaver when we drove across Australia with 7-month old Tundra!! Nothing worse than traipsing around in the dark when you just want to go to bed after driving all day with a dog that doesn't know it's wees time :p

That's part of the risk of breeding, if she wanted it to go smoothly she shouldn't be in breeding at all. If the original terms were that you get a stud fee, she needs to stick to that. Wouldn't a couple of puppies' sales pay for the C-section, another puppy pay the stud fee & the rest cover other costs (microchips, worming, feeding, etc.) to a degree? She's dreaming if she thinks she's going to get a decent profit.

Terrifying!! Hope those dogs get put down post-haste. No place in society for dogs like that.

Have you looked into vet bed? It's pretty tough & very comfy. Not sure if you could tie it to the sides, but it's fairly stiff & harder for them to mess around.

RSPCA Qld has a Behaviour Helpline run by behaviorists they employ. Long time back I used it to make contact re a dog problem & was impressed. Since then, I've referred others to it. But I've sometimes had to reassure the person that it's not a judgmental service as if the RSPCA will call you a 'bad owner'. In fact, for all the expert knowledge & advice, the behaviorist I spoke to, had an attitude of a fellow dog owner who just tries to do their best. Wow, I had no idea!! That's so good!

Totally agree there Roova, with your statement about it not being the breeders but the people who dump the dogs. It's so true, and I think there needs to be either more help for people before they do give up a dog (maybe RSPCA should get off their butts and employ behaviourists to go into their home & help the family apply changes to help the dog. I don't follow Cesar Milan any more (I did for a while but have learned the error of my ways) but I do agree that a lot of the time wearing a dog out can make them a lot easier to live with! On a similar note, I'm on a Pets for Sale page on Facebook and there are SO many people wanting crosses. I.e. Am Staff X, Maltese X, Poodle X (doodle breed), etc. It's weird. I even saw someone wanting a Golden Retriever or Golden Retriever X then if you suggest that they make sure the parents are hip & elbow scored & have all other relevant testing done, you get called a troll people just don't want to know and I don't know what can be done about it. For a lot of people, registered breeders seem to have such a bad rap and I don't know what caused it. Maybe I've only been around good registered breeders so I don't understand the bad rep?

Hehe, superminty I think you're onto something there, I know a BC person with a Kelpie pup (nearly a year old maybe?) who thinks she "doesn't want to work" even though I find her very keen & biddable & smart. Then again, maybe she doesn't respond well to being yelled at Whereas the BCs are so biddable they still want to work even if they're yelled at

Goldfish (and wild fish) and dogs are really good at remembering who feeds them and the sequences leading up to that. I can't be facetious??? Seriously I make a light-hearted comment on the memory capacities of goldfish (which I'm well aware is basically a myth/disproven) but I find it amusing that they hold absolutely no grudges.

I love the Rotties

That is really interesting!!! What a good way to explain it, I've never heard it that way :D Haha SG, I think you're totally right - any sadness is purely based on me being cranky (they get sad & try to make me feel better, stop being cute you ratbags, I'm grumpy) because as soon as their little goldfish brains forget I've just yelled at them they're bouncing around again

My bitch completely skips "guilt" and goes straight to "smile she'll laugh & forget about it" she gives me the cheeky Aussie smile and does a sweet little butt wiggle - any misdemeanour is quickly forgotten

I've been trying this on my horses and on myself this season, although it is expensive if you have a lot of them! I have found it works on some horses and not so well on others. I personally wouldn't put it on an open wound, I would imagine it would sting? Septicide is my ointment of choice for wounds that cannot or do not have to be bandaged. ETA I haven't used the product I~B linked to, however I have tried garlic granules and powder in the past and found the opposite of what it is supposed to do! The flies were attracted to the feeders like crazy! I don't think it would sting any more than Cetrigen or Prednoderm...

Natures botanical :) My SIL has put it on her greyhounds ears when the flies get really bad & we've even put it on a horse's bad leg wound to keep the flies away. Seems to have some healing properties too :) It's Cedarwood & Rosemary oils in an olive oil creme base :)

Wow that Snuffle mat is such a cool idea!! Can double as a cozy little bed for the crate too I'd like to get my dogs Vetbed for Christmas, been eyeing it off for ages and my SIL has it and it's just awesome stuff. Those Tuffy plush dog toys look awesome! My ferals need something tough. There are toy guts all over the backyard

Oh my goodness. I just got home and made the dogs be polite about going inside (Tundra has to lay down, Cilla has to sit) and then in the lounge room Cilla lays down and Tundra has stayed in his crate on command (gate open) for the last 10 minutes!! So proud!!! Never tried it before like that :) what good puppies

Oh hell yeah. Don't have to worry about that It's awesome, my husband doesn't like yabbies, so I get them all to myself. Even the claws are delicious, but I might be able to share them... I gave the scraps to the chooks (I think they're luckier than the dogs at the moment haha!) and I think they enjoyed them :)

Ok so yabbies being a freshwater crayfish shouldn't be too harmful :) I just wasn't sure if anything about their meat would be bad for dogs (Tundra was most enchanted with the smell in the bucket though!! Very new experience for him haha). Yoghurt is a great idea! Guessing plain Greek yoghurt? Would it need to be lactose free? I was tempted to try some vegemite in it :D Great idea about the bits that float & the bits that sink - that happened with the frozen veg/kibble so hopefully they enjoy that Thanks guys, some great ideas here!

Hey all, I've started putting fun things in ice blocks for the dogs to enjoy on days I'm away for extended periods of time (maximum of 10 hours if I'm on the Chaser during harvest). They're left outside so messy isn't an issue. So far, salmon & kibble have been hits :) I've got some frozen peas & corn with kibble in the freezer for next time I go out. I was wondering about putting eggs in there, but I'm not sure if salmonella (they're homegrown eggs, chooks are wormed & healthy, clean hutches) would be an issue as the blocks are melting/dogs are licking them? Any thoughts on this? Other ideas I had were sardines (when I finally remember to buy it when I go shopping), liver chunks, tripe chunks (haven't been organised enough to do these yet), diced meat/mince, etc. The containers I'm using are the size of Chinese takeaway containers because I didn't want to ruin my human lunch containers with fish smell haha. Also I've started catching yabbies (discovered them in one of our dams!) and was wondering if anyone has fed them to dogs and how safe it is?

As someone whose mother died a slow horrible prolonged death at 65 from Parkinson's, this gives me hope. While I vehemently oppose testing cosmetics or food additives or such on animals; I make no apology for supporting this kind of medical research. I realise this will make me unpopular here, so be it. Totally agree. Medical research is important.

A dog that I was fostering actually came to me as she'd taken to picking on one of the younger dogs at a breeders' place (unprovoked), and a couple of the other bitches jumped in - luckily it was easy to stop & they're not inherently aggressive dogs. It's an interesting phenomenon, when an outside dog picks a fight with one of the 'pack' the rest of them go in to tell the outside dog off

Happy Gotcha Day

While I don't specifically do herding with Tundra or Cilla (I also live on a sheep farm & grew up on a sheep farm until dad sold the sheep to concentrate on cropping), they do more of less get to fulfil part of their origin which was as a ranch dog :) They come with me to feed the horses & chooks. Surprisingly, as a puppy Tundra had really good sense to stay away from horses back legs - I don't know if all dogs are like that but I was impressed :)

Haha SM, every time I go to Perth I buy a couple of dog toys (if I can sneak them without husband saying they've got enough toys) because mine lose them in the bush or completely gut them dog toys come here to die

Haha really?? I've only seen it with paw prints (I really like the grey with lime green paw prints hehe, or anything pink...) or stripes but haven't had a good look at the site since. OOPS

I've given up on buying nice dog beds. Or crappy ones. They end up dragged through the bush then ripped to shreds So they get old towels or $15 Kmart quilts to sleep on if they even choose to sleep on anything. I'm thinking of getting some vet bed for the dogs for Christmas, though. They shouldn't be able to destroy that and it's great stuff My SIL has some and I'm so envious of it haha. Plus it's got cute patterns. :)